All these fabulous or not so fabulous cars and no mention at all of one of the great cars of all time -- 68-73 Datsun 510?

Now, I'm biased 'cause I own one, but hey: go-kart handling, mid to high 20s MPG with twin DCOE 40s on a 2-litre engine with MSD electronic ignition. And reliable as the day is long. I love to see the look on the faces of the Sport Compact guys at the Sonic when I roll up in my '72 coupe . Am I winning drag races? No. But no one's gonna be able to catch me going up the twisty mountain roads, either.

Why did I want one? I had the light blue Datsun AFX slot car when I was a little kid and it was my favorite. That's it. I knew someday, I 'd get one. I got mine through the classified ads in the local paper for $600 twelve years ago.

My wife hates it. My kids love it. I have put a fair amount of money in it over the years. When it does need service or I need help with a modification, I take it a local performance mechanic. He has a shop filled with 911s and Ferraris. But he swears that when its there, its the first car that everyone walks over to check out. Frankly, I'm not sure why he agreed to help me with it in the first place, as its value is at least $30,000 less than anything else in his garage. Its fun, its cheap, its getting really rare (at least around here) and it does turn heads.

Plus, there's no mid-life manhood questions like with Porsche or Corvette.

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NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

I suspect that has to do with the fact that it looks like a 67 BMW 3

It does indeed have a certain charm to it. And it also really does look like Nissan copied an early BMW Maybe a 1600 or 2000 series.

Doug

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YORF member #11

No but there may be orientation questions when driving a powerless weenie-mobile. I will give you a 30 second head start on any 5+mile twisty road against my Corvette and ANY 4-cylinder Datsun WILL LOSE EVERY TIME.
If it won't win most drag races, in my book it IS a useless POS.
If it won't go at LEAST 150mph (and no I don't care what the legal limit is; never have never will) it IS a useless POS as well.
If it is NOT a US-headquartered brand and NOT a European Prestige brand it IS a POS that I would not be caught dead in.

A Datsun 510 is good for one thing only...DESTROYING.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Gman, I like you, but the real point is... who's driving? Put a driver in the Datsun and you'd be toast! It's all about the driver. Driver's of near equal skill—the 'Vette wins. A race car driver in the Datsun and a wanna be in the 'Vette—the Corvette driver is smelling exhaust. I know.

Besides, Datsun 510's had a special sport model (or maybe 510 was the model), I forget it's designation, they weren't to be trifled with on a road course.

And, just the other day, I smoked a Holden (Pontiac) GTO for lunch in my Jap built totally stock G37 (six cylinders, ya know?). It'll do what it says on the speedo. German "prestige" brands of the same caliber don't worry me.

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Retro-grouch

A semi-competent driver in a STOCK 400, 500, or 637 horsepower Corvette will WHIP a world class driver in any stock ~100hp Datsun 510 on ANY paved road.
Driver skill cannot make up for that much differential in equipment. Maybe over 500 laps on same course, the pro driver would have a similar overall time due to physical fitness and driver fatigue, but over 5 runs on any paved course, that 510 is seeing taillights.
If a 6L 400hp GTO driver could not keep up with a G37 they are a pi$$-poor driver.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Oh. Yes it can. If you can't put the horsepower to use—it may as well not be there. I consider myself semi-competent and got a lesson. The lesson was: I'm no driver. You'd think a Z-28 could push over a Yugo wouldn't ya? I saw his rear wheel lifting up and waving "good-by" every time we hit a corner. And there were lots.

Not much driving to it—we were straight lining. He jumped me at 65. I'm thinking maybe his tuning was off a bit. But it was him as wanted to play. 330 hp (stock) is nothing to sneeze at. I backed off somewhere over 150 and he was behind me. Not by much, but still—behind.

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Retro-grouch

That GTO was WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY outta tune if he did not blow by you on the freeway.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Still, it was fun. Happy ride 'in.

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Retro-grouch

The Ford motor produced about 620 hp bone stock, right off the showroom floor. I'm pretty sure it was the most powerful normally aspirated American production engine ever for a long, long time. I wouldn't be surprised if it still holds that distinction. That's not bad for an engine that first ran in 1964. I think the Mopar 426 had considerably lower hp in showroom trim, but much greater than the conservatively advertised 425hp. It only took a little knowledgeable tweaking to get it well up in the 500's. There's no telling what either motor made in full race trim.

The stock 427 Ford motor was stuffed in a Galaxie for testing and beat the best times ever put on the track by the Mopar race hemi at the time. That's when Highland Park (and probably GM too) raised the big stink and got NASCAR to ban the motor without it ever running a single race. That didn't happen with the Mopar hemi. The Mopar engine ran in NASCAR for a year or two before it was ever put in a production car. The 427 was homologated, but still became the only engine built within the rules that NASCAR ever banned permanently. The Mopar hemi went away with it but the rules were changed before the year was out to let them run again. I think they ran them until the early 70's.

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I love sanding.

I KNEW I'd get a rise out of the Distinguished Gentleman from Michigan. Sorry GH, a prepared Datsun with a race driver will smoke a poser in a Corvette every time on any course that doesn't include a long straight away. And for A LOT less money. If you're lucky enough to afford a $118,000 car, super, but it doesn't make you a better driver, just richer.

Look, I'm a fan of Big Iron, my first car was a '70 351C Torino. I have a Cleveland with Australian heads under plastic waiting for a Cobra project. But Detroit doesn't have a corner on fun. I've SCCA autocrossed all kinds of different cars from Hondas to Porsches to a Corvette or two (And beaten a few with the Datsun). All cars can be fun regardless of their point of origination. I've restored or helped on everything from a 428 '68 Thunderbird to an Alfa Romeo Spyder. They're all fun to somebody.

Calling someone else's favorite car a POS ignores the fact that somebody, somewhere thinks what you drive, no matter what make or model, is a POS.

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7